School of Science Division of Life Science 42 Dinoflagellate Bioluminescences Are Not Only for the Tourists Supervisor: WONG Joseph Tin Yum / LIFS Student: LI Tsz Long / BISC Course: UROP 2100, Fall Carrying the bioluminescence system of luciferase (LCF) and luciferin, scintillons are the essential organelle of dinoflagellate to emit light that attracts tourists. By interchanging the location of scintillons between the cortex and the center of the cell in the Pyrocystis lunula, the brightness of the glow is mediated by a circadian clock. While the complex amphiesma composed of multiple membranous layers may participate in the mechanotransduction pathway to trigger the photogenic reaction, the morphology of a thecate dinoflagellate, Lingulodinium polyedra, was inspected with fluorescent microscopy and polarizing microscopy in an attempt to examine the relationships between scintillons and thecal plates. In addition, the analytic result of the transcriptome would be included. Dinoflagellate Bioluminescences Are Not Only for the Tourists Supervisor: WONG Joseph Tin Yum / LIFS Student: PANG Ching / BCB Course: UROP 1100, Fall Dinoflagellates are a diverse group of unicellular eukaryotic organisms that play multiple roles in ecosystems, notably through their capacity for bioluminescence. This study focuses on the molecular cloning and heterologous expression of luciferase from the dinoflagellate Lingulodinium polyedrum, which is known for its blue light emission. The report involved extracting total RNA from cultured cells, synthesizing complementary DNA (cDNA), and amplifying the target luciferase gene using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The PCR products were analysed through agarose gel electrophoresis, with some bands corresponding to expected sizes. Understanding the genetic basis of bioluminescence in dinoflagellates might be helpful for potential applications in biotechnology, such as using luciferase as a reporter gene in various experimental systems. Genetic Studies of Stem Cell Aging Supervisor: XIE Ting / LIFS Student: KWOK Yeuk Sze / BIBU Course: UROP 1100, Fall Pseudouridine (Ψ) is highly involved in gene expression regulation due to its wide spectrum of RNA modifications. The functions of Ψ affecting human development and biological processes are still under research. Here, we construct various plasmids as a tool to facilitate the research in human cell lines such as the human embryonic stem cells (hESCs). We leveraged the advantages of the time dependent inducibility of the Tet-On system in constructing our plasmids with the Ψ writers PUS1 and PUS3 genes. These plasmids can then be packaged into lentiviral vectors capable of integrating into the human genome. With our inducible lentiviral system PUS1 and PUS3 can be overexpressed in human cell lines. Therefore, Ψ function in different developmental events can be studied. This research provides a method of altering PUS protein level for a better understanding of Ψ functions.
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